kaiphi

Ahhh, thank y'all so much! At first I was listing it as a safety school but it's all so perfect: Small college, long list of notable literary/academic alumni, bridge classes in theory and literature so I can further develop my research interests, perfect opportunity to boost my GPA and extend my academic body of work, plus it's in New York which was a very important next-step in my career path. (I also work as a writer and write for New York pubs regularly, so this would work wonderfully for my career path.) The campus is actually very close to my Brooklyn friends and fav bookstores, in fact! So now it's my goal program.

Anybody applied to or encountered Brooklyn College's Master's program in English? I'm considering all the factors and realizing it might be the perfect place for me, but I'm not sure how competitive they are because I can't find anything about this particular program.

Hi there, Thank you all! I've decided that gaining an MA as a stepping stone into academia as well as an opportunity to focus solely on scholarly work. That being said, does anyone know of a database for funded Master's programs? I don't want to go into deeper debt after undergrad. AOI: Black American Literature, Francophone Literature, Afro-Caribbean Literature (Négritude), Postcolonial Studies, Cosmopolitan Literature, Postmodernism (Minimalism, Magical Realism), Aesthetics, French Philosophy, Sartre, Stuart Hall, Camus, Foucault, Fanon, Thiong'o, C.L.R. James. (20th-Century, ad infinitum)

Lately I've been hearing/reading a lot of discussion about whether one needs a Master's degree in order to pursue a full-fledged doctoral program. Eventually I'd like to earn my PhD in Comparative Literature, but the advice I've gotten from professors at my current uni and my dream uni has been conflicting. I'm very interested in Black American modernism and francophone Afro-Caribbean literature (alongside some cultural theory and political philosophy), but my university doesn't offer many courses in this vein seeing as our course catalog always has ~one type of class~ every semester. (One Shakespeare, one medieval, one black literature sometimes, one American literature, etc etc). So despite a couple of independent study opportunities I'm taking advantage of, I feel unprepared to even write a Statement of Purpose for summer research opportunities at this point. Plus, my GPA still isn't great. I have a year left and won't be applying until the year after, but my freshman and sophomore years really muddied things up. The director of graduate study at my dream PhD program advised that I get a Master's in my prospective field first, so I'll feel more prepared when the time comes to apply to their program. Another professor at my current uni said a Master's is a great stepping stone to see if I want to pursue the full program. However, another professor said it best to apply for a PhD straight away in order to qualify for the full funding, and I don't intend on going to grad school at all if it's going to put me deeper into debt. What are the pros and cons here? I'm leaning towards the Master's at the moment.

Hey all, What're some good Master's programs in English/Comparative Literature that fund their students? I'm eyeballing NYU and Rutgers but their funding opportunities are Master's students are "eh". Trying to accrue as little debt after undergrad as possible.

@Bumblebea I'm actually looking at their Comparative Literature MA/PhD program right now in order to tie American Modernism and the Caribbean diaspora/Cultural studies together somehow. Rhet/Comp and Lit Theory are just two other categories I'm eyeballing atm. I'm not applying for another year, but I'm working on my statement of purpose now in order to apply for a couple of research/scholarship programs. Also, I talked to my professor who specializes in American Modernism today, and he advised that I go ahead and apply to Columbia's PhD program among others straight out of undergrad. (Well, not straight out, but since I'm taking a gap year to work as a journalist, maybe I will go ahead and apply after, give it a go.) He also said that applying for an MA/PhD program may make me eligible for funding, so I'm going to look into schools with that as well. I have a friend who went to NYU's PhD and received funding, but ended up transferring to Hopkins after about a year. I also want to get a Fulbright at one point, and am trying to decide if I want to apply before or during grad school. Maybe before? I am studying French independently now, and it'd definitely help for my grad studies? This is all shaping up as I type lol

Hey @Warelin, I understand all of this, and perhaps I should have specified what it is I'm looking for: Columbia is where I eventually want to get my PhD, but I want to earn my Master's at a different school to build my CV, specify my research interests, and generally get situated in the graduate school M.O. before embarking on it for life. Columbia was also not a particularly light or frivolous choice; there are many reasons why I've aimed for this school in particular. At the moment I'm trying to figure out which NYC school (that's not Columbia) would be best for me, and am unsure of how to figure that out because NYU, for example, doesn't offer much in the way of course catalogs and Brooklyn College doesn't seem as challenging as I'd like my education to be. (One of my criterion for choosing a program is based on how challenging it is; I've taken a couple of graduate courses in the past and they weren't very challenging to the point where I felt as though I were going through the motions at one point.) I'm looking for a school that challenges me, is based in NY (doesn't necessarily have to be NYC), offers Master's programs in English/Comparative Literature and is preferably funded to some extent, and I was unsure of how to seek this school out. That being said, thank you! I'm now checking faculty bios to see if they'll point me in the right direction.

Hi all, I have been bouncing back and forth between what I want to do after graduation and recently settled on academia as a serious long-term career. My CV is great but my GPA is "eh" because my undergrad career has been spotty thanks to some mental health issues this past year (ironically related to my little crisis of "what the hell am I going to do with my life!!!") and I have to take a gap semester/year in order to pay off the rest of my tuition bill that was normally covered by a grant that I'm no longer a priority for since my parents now make too much money. In short, 2016 has been a rough ride. Anywho, I'm a bit glad to take this time away from school because I've been feeling very down and lost lately since last year I traveled at full speed academically/professionally trying to excel and get everything done in four years. It'll be a nice time to explore and travel and work a full-time job that I was offered at a local news station to pay for this tuition gap. And the dean is being very helpful in allowing me to get my transcripts so I can apply for a summer research program that'd (hopefully) send me to Columbia in 2017. But I do have some questions about where to go from here: First, if I'm taking a gap year, what should I do to remain on-track for my CV? Such as publishing something, going somewhere, doing something? Right now I'm considering taking private French lessons because I want to be able to read and write fluently in the language. I also want a sort of small back-up plan in case I don't get into the summer research program, which is likely thanks to this darn GPA. I'm currently writing a paper on American modernist literature that I'm going to submit to my school's undergraduate journal, but I also want to submit it elsewhere. Basically while I'm out I want to do things. Any suggestions? Also, I've decided where I want to earn my PhD (Columbia's my dream school, but I have a list of others as well) but I'm stuck on my Master's. Location is very important to me (for a lot of reasons) so I want to study in New York after undergrad, but I also don't know how to find The School I want to work in. My professors and academic friends said I could look at schools publishing exciting work in my field, but I also don't know how to seek that out. The only scholar I can think of right now that I want to study under is Toni Morrison, but Princeton only has a PhD program and I'm not prepared to apply for that. (I'm also not very keen on Princeton.) How did you all find your Master's programs?

Hey y'all, Wow, I forgot about this topic! Well, I'm a senior now and publishing more than ever. Finally started working on fiction and I even have a novel idea that I wanted to include in my Statement of Purpose I'm not completely tethered to the idea of doing an MFA program straight out of uni, so if I don't get into my target schools I'll be okay. But, it's finally application time and I feel ready(-ish) to take it on! Now I'm just apply to Hopkins, Columbia, and maybe Rutgers. I want to either stay in the Baltimore-DC area to save money or move to NYC, which is where I'm planning to move after graduation. I have other job/internship/fellowship prospects in the city which is why I'm aiming so high now.

Thank y'all so much! This is all still very new to me since I'm just now meeting with my advisors. How do you all find these documents or figure out where to go from an original idea? Right now I have a general idea of where to go for my thesis, but no idea how to focus in on it and where to find information relating to it.

But anyway, thanks @poliscar and @echo449 for the info. I guess I should talk to one of my advisors considering my research projects are all in different topics. This summer I just finished a criticism of an American modernist text, my thesis is on a medieval text, and this fall my independent study is just an intensive on structuralism and semiotics that'll end up in a paper on something—we're still figuring that out in the next couple of weeks. I also don't intend on applying for a couple years, so I guess I have some time to figure it out.

What a coincidence—so did I!

What a coincidence—so did I!

I finally settled on a concentration lol unfortunately, my uni doesn't offer more than an introductory course to theory. Any lit theory applicants in this board? What'd you do to prep? I'm going to focus my senior thesis on a structuralist reading of a certain text.

I'm still trying to find an area of specialty, but I am very interested in literary theory, the Harlem Renaissance and Négritude, as well as the relationship between literature and cinema. These are why I've gravitated mostly to Columbia, though funding it will be difficult lol. I'm kind of interested in a lot, lol; do all MA programs require a concentration in which you have to focus on or is the area of focus just for the thesis?

Unfunded??? Ugh, of course. Education really shouldn't be that out-of-reach, smh. I'm looking up funded programs now; are there any schools you think I should look at?

Hey all, a little while ago I posted the topic "Grades versus Writing Sample?" in which I admitted I was unsure of if I ever really wanted to go to graduate school. Since then I've thought about it and I realized that I do want to get my M.A. in Comparative Literature from Columbia University. I chose Columbia for a number of reasons: For one, it's been my dream school since I was eight years old but I went to a local public university instead. Second, my university hasn't provided me with the education or exposure I need to pursue my career goals. My current uni offers only a handful of classes on extremely random topics where the professors gloss over really interesting critical theory; half the time I feel as though I'm teaching myself, which I'd rather not pay thousands of dollars for. (Ex. We have classes on Afrofuturism and Islamic Literature but absolutely no classes focused solely on a theory or theorist, plus very few novels that are based on a timeline.) Columbia has these amazing classes that I'd die to take: This fall they're offering whole courses on New Wave Cinema (which I've actually written about in the past for a Manhattan-based art magazine!), Realism and Naturalism, and Jazz and American Culture, all offered to graduate students! Also, most of the established writers, peers, and publications I want to work with/for are near or attached to Columbia University in one way, shape, or form. Also, I feel as though Columbia will provide me with the challenge I seek to become a great writer and thinker as opposed to a good one. I have a friend in their Comparative Literature program right now and she's reading all this amazing discourse for her classes—texts that my school's highest courses haven't even touched yet. (I've taken three grad courses so far and they've all been pretty easy-ish.) I'm also flirting with other Literature programs, but Columbia is definitely the goal. Here's the problem: My GPA took a major hit this spring because I went through some home life issues and mental health problems that made it difficult to focus on my schoolwork, let alone complete it. There were times where I'd sit in a seminar trying to listen but couldn't focus because I was overwhelmed by my thoughts; other times it was difficult to even go to class. I've seen a therapist since then and worked the issues out. It was a complicated time. Thankfully, the semester before I made Dean's List and was admitted to Sigma Tau Delta. I've also developed great relationships with most of the English professors, which has helped a lot yet hurt a little: During my rough time this past spring they gave me a lot of leeway to get my act together, but since they know my prior work they expect more from me so when I turned in less-than-stellar work because I felt bad it just made me feel worse and worse. My GPA is far from a 4.0 (right now) but I think my CV is coming along nicely: I've been published in two local newspapers, The New Inquiry and a couple of art magazines with forthcoming work on Hazlitt and Catapult, and I'm currently working on a research project to be added into a book of literary criticism published by Salem Press in 2017. This coming year I'm working on a senior honors thesis while taking easy classes this fall to rectify my GPA, lol. I don't intend on applying until Fall 2017 or 2018 after I've graduated so I have enough time to get my act together. I'm visiting the school this summer for more information about their program, and I'm most likely going to turn either my senior thesis or my chapter in the book in as my writing sample, if they'll even allow 20 - 50 pages, lol. Also, I've heard that taking a couple of years off after undergrad to work can help boost your chances of admission in grad programs. So, basically, is there anything I'm missing? Is it even possible to get into Columbia if your GPA isn't perfect? I am looking at other programs but deep down I don't think I'd want to commit to another school—but this is really my only attempt at undergrad so it feels like if I don't get in now I never will. I dunno. I hate GPAs!

Good to know, Will McAvoy.

Hey all, Thanks! This has given me a lot to think about! To clarify, my GPA is about a 3.2 with a 3.6 in the major—but thanks to outside projects that'll undoubtedly take a hit after this semester, though I'm taking very easy classes this fall so it'll go back up, it's fluctuating right now lol—and I've just accepted a position as Arts & Humanities editor of our undergraduate research journal.

Hi there, I'm a junior in university looking into grad programs for literary criticism (eventually). My GPA isn't fantastic—probably horrendous considering the schools I dream of going to—but I'm working on a senior honors thesis and I was chosen to be published in a forthcoming volume of lit criticism, which apparently doesn't happen very often for undergrads. I've also published some literary criticism through The New Inquiry. I'm not particularly wild about going to grad school right now but since I'm in the McNair Program and have shown interest in research in the past I want to at least be eligible in case, maybe 10 years from now, I decide to go into academia forreals. So, how much do grades matter compared to writing samples? I've read that writing samples matter more but just wanted to be sure, I guess

Hi all, I decided to take a couple years off after graduation to work as an au pair in Europe (and maybe later go to WWOOF in Asia) and I've already solidified my first job in Italy for September 2017. Meanwhile, I've decided to look into Master's programs in Literary Theory and see where I go from there. Honestly I just want to write fiction down the line, so I want to prioritize that. I might pursue the Master's because I love to learn and my uni doesn't offer a good enough English program for me to feel adequately prepared to do anything in my field. I may even look into getting a Fulbright; who knows! Until then I've found what I want to do for the time being. Thank you all for the suggestions!

I'm a junior, rising senior at an Honors university. I don't know what an Honors university is but they call it that. For the past year I've been set on journalism (though I study English literature), but now I'm considering going for my master's in English Literature instead because I honestly really don't think a graduate degree in journalism is necessary for what I want to do. (I'm also still figuring out what it is that I want to do.) I have a friend at Harvard's doctoral program who frequently writes journalistic pieces, so I kind of want to be like her, except I really don't want a doctorate, either. Basically, I want to keep writing and I want to keep learning but I don't want to get too deep into academia because it sounds like Hell and I want to remain in journalism. I'm in a rough spot. Anyway, here's where I'm at so far: 3.2 overall GPA, 3.6 within my major (English), McNair Scholar and member of the Nat'l English Honors Society (Sigma Tau Delta), president of our school's English Council of Majors and freelance writer. Next year I'm working on a senior Honors thesis and, if I remain on Dean's List this semester, my GPA will propel to a 3.5. I edit art MFA theses as kind of a free agent for that professor and have applied to be an editor on the undergrad research journal next year. I'm going to take the GREs later and use whatever GPA I have by the time I graduate next May—I'm aiming for magna cum laude—because I'm going to take a gap year between undergrad and grad school to figure things out, wander, travel, freelance some more, decide whether or not this is what I want. Might even teach English in France for a while; I have a friend that did it. I'm very much weighing my options right now to see if grad school is really the answer, but in the event that it is, I want to be prepared. What do y'all suggest that I do now to prepare for grad school?

Is it okay if I ask how you prepped to apply to Columbia? I'm applying this coming fall and am unsure whether or not I'm ready because I haven't interned as a big-name publication (yet). So far I have had two internships, some freelance bylines, and a couple of editorial positions, but I feel so unprepared!

Hi there! I'm also applying to their MA program this fall, so I shall bump this board and stick around. I'm a junior at a school in Baltimore.

Basically, I've been having some issues with the campus paper this semester. Last semester, when I was only taking two classes, I was one of their best reporters. At the end of the semester, since the Assistant News Editor was studying abroad this fall, another writer and I were being considered as his replacement. Fast forward to the fall. I become significantly busier thanks to a journalism internship I got downtown and a heavier academic workload with four classes instead of two. Since the Assistant News Editor pretty much did all the work for the News Editor, the News Editor dropped the ball and consistently kept giving us assignments two days late, which gave me less time to work on them. Since I was a staff writer I had to submit an article every week in order to keep that position, so imagine my frustration when I'm given less time to complete the f*cking articles because the News Editor is just f*cking incompetent!!! I digress. So, I had to leave the paper because it was becoming too much and kind of tedious because the topics we were being given were pretty much nothing. (Once I had to write about the campus pond. Hard to squeeze 500 words out of it but I did it.) Recently the News Editor and I had a falling out—not about his sending out topics too late—that's since been resolved, and I've been invited back to the paper since I was a good reporter. I can't really return right now because I'm still busy, but I'm considering it for next semester. Thing is, I can't really stay on as a Staff Writer this late into my college career. (I'm a junior.) I was trying to get the assistant editorship but the News Editor made that increasingly difficult by not doing his job and then favoring another writer (a bro, if you will) who barely even shows up to the mandatory weekly meetings. And now it's a little late to do that because the actual editor returns next semester. Basically, if all of my outside spring internship applications are rejected, I need editorial experience within the campus paper if I'm going to invest any more time into it. But it's becoming unnecessarily difficult to get articles in on-time—let alone reach 500 words—due to the News Editor's half-assing his duties. I haven't told the EIC about this because I don't want to further strain our relationship; it's pretty strained right now. Should I return next semester if I don't get an outside internship or just freelance? I'm also loosely working for a small local magazine that could be of help. Should I tell the EIC about this and ask what's going on? I dunno. This stuff is hard when you go to a school with an abysmal journalism program in a city that has, maybe, two major newspapers (and you've already worked at one!).